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This is the first look at Hyundai’s new Intrado concept car – due to bow in at the 2014 Geneva Motor Show. It’s the first car to be designed under the company’s latest styling rulebook, dubbed Fluidic Sculpture 2.0.

Hyundai’s new design chief, Peter Schreyer, told MSN Cars the Intrado defied pigeonholing. “It is neither an SUV, nor a coupe, nor a crossover,” he said. “I’m not quite sure how to categorise it!” Audi Steppenwolf – a bit like the Hyundai Intrado?

Audi Steppenwolf: inspiration? That said, MSN Cars reckons the Intrado has a hint of squashed SUV to it – not unlike an Audi Steppenwolf concept car (below right).

Schreyer said the Hyundai Intrado was designed to showcase the company’s latest design direction, a new compact hydrogen fuel-cell powertrain and the latest lightweight materials technology.

The hydrogen fuel-cell gubbins is designed to be much smaller and lighter than the powertrain in the ix35 Fuel Cell model, which has entered low-volume production on a test basis.

Hyundai promises the shrunken package brings “the potential to change the way cars are constructed in the future.” However, it is refusing to elaborate or release more details of how the Intrado is built until nearer its Geneva debut in March 2014.

The Intrado takes its name from the underside of an aircraft’s wing, according to Hyundai. “It is not only our new design expression, but also a research project for our hydrogen drivetrain,” added Schreyer. “It is not a big car and although it’s hard to put in a box, I would say it is closer to the spirit of an SUV.